Collapsible table



July 31, 1962 c. CARVER 3, ,337

COLLAPSIBLE TABLE Filed March 6, 1961 Clem a C arver' INVENTOR.

BY MJ United States Patent Ofiice Patented July 31, 1962 3.0471337 CQLLAPFSHBLE TABLE Clema Carver, 5311 SE. Bush, Portland, Greg. Filed Mar. 6, 1961, Ser. No. 93,782 4 Claims. (Qt. 297-157) My invention relates to collapsible furniture and particularly to a combined picnic table with associated seats that'may be assembled quickly without requiring bolts or other types of fastening devices.

It is a primary object of my invention to construct furniture of this character from straight lengths of boards,

with minimum need for mill work and with few quick attachable and detachable fastenings.

A further object of my invention is to construct furniture of this character so that a sturdy structure may be provided that when disassembled the parts thereof may be stacked flatwise into a compact package.

Furniture of this character may be utilized as outside furniture that is taken in and periodically stored. Other wide use for such type of furniture is for picnics where the parts thereof may be stored in a compact package and carried to the picnic place in the body or storage compartment of an automobile. It is desirable that none of the fastening devices become detached and it is also desirable that no tools be needed to set up the table and associated seats and dismember them.

These objects and features of my invention are attained in the combined table with attached seats in which only three pieces thereof require mill work and all of the pieces, including the ones requiring mill work may be made of standard dimension lumber. For example, a structure of this character may be constructed of lengths of 2 x 3 studding, 1 x 4 finished boards and l X 10 boards which are readily procurable in any lumber yard. The advantage of this is that it is necessary to supply only those members and fittings that require mill work or forming and all of the remainder may be purchased from a retail lumber yard to construct a table of thischaracter.

Further and other details of my invention are hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevation of furniture embodying my invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevation thereof with parts shown broken away to disclose details of construction;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a fastening cap for joining the apices of the leg supports;

KG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of a brace element; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary portion of a leg support to which the brace may be joined detachably.

A collapsible tablewith accompanying seats embodying my invention comprise a pair of sawhorse supports 1, four 1" x planks 2 for the table top and two 1" x 10" planks for the seats 3. Two stretchers 4- serve the dual function of stiffening the sawhorse supports and supports for the ends of the seats. Under each end of the seat is a supporting leg 5 joined to the ends of the stretchers 4 by bail-like securing devices 6. Each of the sawhorse supports comprises a pair of inclined leg members 7, cross braces ll therefor and horizontally disposed beam members 9.

Each sawhorse support is constructed by arranging the supporting legs to converge toward the top and diverge at the bottom to produce an A-shaped structure. Two pair of said A-shaped structures are joined by a crossbeam member 9. Each A-frame assembly is joined to an end of a crossbeam and to each other by a cap ltl that is fitted over the converging upper ends of the supporting legs. The caps pull these legs together tightly.

her 9, as is illustrated in the drawings.

l The caps 10 are formed of an encompassing band 10a which encircles the inclined legs at a point a distance slightly above the apex thereof. Standing upwardly from said band and welded or otherwise secured thereto is saddle member ltlb.

The saddle member encircles the ends of the leg members adjacent the apex and thus provide two constricting members about the leg members to maintain them rigidly at proper angularity and in relationship with each other. The saddle member extends vertically and receives the crossbeam member 9 which is arranged edgewise therein. The saddle fits fairly snugly about the sides of the beam member and causes the parts to be held in tight engagement.

Approximately midway of the length of each of said supporting legs is the brace 11 having multiple hookshaped engaging pins 11a that partially extend about and encircle transverse dowels or pins 12 spanning related recesses 13 in the edges of the supporting legs 7. These recesses face each other in related pairs of legs and the brace conforms to the desired angularity for the pairs of supporting legs. The hook-shaped engaging pieces are forced downwardly about the dowels or pins and the ends of the brace abut the opposed faces of the legs 7. This provides a sturdy A-frame clamping the earn member 9 at the apex thereof.

When a pair of said sawhorse supports '1 are set up, as shown in the figures, and spaced apart a proper distance, the stretcher 4 for each sawhorse support is threaded endwise above the brace 11 in each of the A-frames and the upper edges of said braces have a notch formed therein corresponding in width to the thickness of the stretcher. The stretcher thus is held centrally with respect to the length of the brace and is prevented from moving longitudinally of the brace because of the tight interfit between the sides of the stretcher and the sides of the notch ltlb in the brace 11.

Said stretchers are substantially longer than the Width of the sawhorse supports so that seat boards 3 may be laid equi-distantly upon the projecting portions of the stretchers that extend laterally beyond the sawhorse supports.

T 0 provide additional support for the seats, I secure a supporting leg 5 to each end of the stretcher. The upper end 5a of each leg is square and thus bears flatwise upon the underside of the stretcher 4' with which it is associated. To hold said parts in place, I provide a C-shaped bail 14 which is slung over the end of the stretcher with which the particular leg is associated so that it partially encompasses the stretcher 4 lying above the leg 5. The terminal end 1 501 of each bail is rotatably mounted in a bore 517 in the supporting leg. The upper terminal portion 14b of the C-shaped bail extends across the edge of the stretcher 4 and down the other side slightly. It also provides a bumper for the seat to prevent it from slipping off the stretcher.

1 preferably proportion the saddle member 10b so that it is slightly shallower than the width of the beam mem- Thus, no portion of the table or top boards or planks rest upon the apex of the horses which might produce some irregularity in the upper surface. I provide latches 15 at the ends of the beam member to engage the outermost edges of the planks defining said top so that said planks are prevented from slipping sidewise from off their support upon the beam member 9.

The combined picnic table, and seats at the sides thereof as thus constructed, is tightly joined together and constitutes a strong and sturdy structure.

When the table and seats are to be disassembled the boards or planks 2 and 3 may be removed and stacked one upon the other because all are the same length,

width and thickness. The caps 10 and the braces 11 may then be removed and the C-shaped bails l4 removed from engagement with the ends of the stretchers. This permits all of said parts to be laid fiatwise on top of i said boards to produce a compact rectangular package. If the C-shaped clamps are to be removed from the legs this may be done readily by removing the lower terminal portion laterally from the companion bore 512 in its supporting leg. Usually it is not desirable to remove said bails from the legs because said legs may be laid more or less flatwise particularly if they are stacked alternately with the bails at opposite ends. This produces a stack of uniform height but one which is compact.

The stacked bundled parts may be tied in a bundle or they may be inserted in a rectangular box or container until they are set up for further use.

Another advantage of constructing a picnic table and associated seats from members that are devoid of mill work (as all of the members are, except the supporting legs 5, braces ill. and leg members 7), that may be purchased from any retail lumber yard. The excepted mmebers have only simple milling operations performed thereon and may be replaced with the exercise of skills ordinarily possessed by do-it-yourself users and with tools such as a brace and bit, saW and chisel.

I claim:

1. A combination table and seat having the members detachably joined for quick attachment and detachment, comprising a plane trestle board top member, a pair of sawhorse supports comprising inclined related pairs of leg members, laterally extending beam members extending between the upper ends of related pairs of leg members by self-wedging joint means, securing said beam members to said leg members, detachable brace members joining related pairs of leg members at points thereon intermediate the ends of said leg members, plane stretchers extending laterally between related pairs. of leg members bearing uponand notched into the braces between said related pairs, plane elongated seat members, said stretchers being substantially longer than the sawhorse supports with which they are related, respectively, the excess length extending equal distances beyond the related sawhorse supports to constitute rests for the elongated seat members, seat supporting legs detachably joined to the extremities of the stretchers, and quick detachable fastening devices for securing certain of said members together to produce a rigid structure.

2. The structure defined in claim 1 in which the fastening devices for securing the upper ends of inclined related pairs of leg members together and tying them to an end of a related beam member include a cap having an encircling band for said legs spaced from the upper ends thereof, and a saddle encircling the tops of the related pairs of legs and having a central depending portion conforming to the cross section of a related beam for engaging and supporting said beam member.

3. The structure defined in claim 1 in which the fastening devices for joining the braces with related leg members comprise downwardly inclined lock members extending longitudinally from the ends of the braces and catches recessed in the leg members, and having selfwedging joint means at both ends thereof.

4. The structure defined in claim 1 in which the fastening devices for joining the seat-supporting legs to the ends of the stretchers comprise a C-shaped bail having a terminal end journaled in the upper end of each seat support and another terminal end partially encircling an end of a stretcher supported by said seat supporting leg.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 769,354 Nielson Sept. 6, 1904 835,059 Curley Nov. 6, 1906 2,244,963 Poll June 10, 1941 2,744,795 McDonough May 8, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 22,775 Sweden July 20, 1907 

